Carly Gibbs
by SlytherinLove30
Summary: A look at everybodies favorite NCIS team through the eyes of Gibbs niece. Some things are turned upside down including her surprising connections to Tony and Tim. May contain Tiva and McAbby in later chapters.
1. My Brother

**Author's Note****- This story was the first NCIS story that I had thought of and it has changed so many times that I had to wait to post it on here. I finally figured out the way I wanted to tell this story, so here it is. Some of the original characters, especially Gibbs, have an AU background. Most of the facts are the same but I have changed some things a little to fit my story. I hope you guys like it! Reviews would be appreciated.**

**Disclaimer****- I do not own NCIS or any of their characters . I only own Carly and we are very lonely together.**

Dr. Rachel Cranston had seen a variety of patients over the years. Some were victims of horrendous crimes, some had daddy issues, trust issues and commitment issues. She had even more recently given psyche evaluation to a group of misfits that will do anything to get the job done. Her newest patients was a combination of all of those things. In her short twenty-two years on Earth, she had seen and been through things that most people could only imagine or see in movies.

Caroline Gibbs was a very smart girl. She had just recently graduated both college and the FLETC program and was now on the fast track to being one of NCIS' best new agents. The only thing stopping her now was her traumatic past. Before giving her a full time job at the agency, Director Leon Vance had ordered her to receive therapy, two times a week for the next three minutes.

Now Carly sat uncomfortably on the couch across from Rachel. She hadn't said anything but 'hello' since she had got there and Rachel knew this wasn't going to be easy. It was going to be up to her to break the ice.

"Your uncle has told me a lot about you." Rachel said to begin.

"That implies that he had to actually talk and that is not something he does much of." Carly said. She didn't want to be there. She also wasn't very happy that it was Vance who was making her do it. Just as he started to grow on her, he took a giant leap back.

"Yes, he didn't seem to be the most talkative man the few times that I've met him. Your brother on the other hand…" Rachel trailed off hoping that Carly would finish.

"Oh ya, he never shuts up." Carly said with a small smile thinking about her older brother. He had teased her mercifully when he found out about this but she could take it after dealing with him for so long.

"You didn't always know you had a brother. Is that right?" Rachel asked hoping that this would open up their discussion.

"No. Actually for the first thirteen years of my life I didn't even know who my father was. But it was Ka.." she stopped halfway through the name when looked up at Rachel and remembered who she was talking to.

"It's okay. You can go on." The doctor said, noting her hesitance.

"Are you, sure?" she asked, just to be sure.

"I've made peace with everything, your uncle helped me with that. Now let me help you. Please." Rachel reached out.

"Okay. Here we go. It all started when I was at NCIS after school and it was a slow day so I was just sitting there watching Kate sketch….."

_**November 2004…..**_

"I think the cheeks aren't puffy enough." Carly commented, as she looked over Kate's shoulder.

"What do you mean not puffy enough? If I make them puffier, he'll look like a snowman." Kate said as she peered from the pad to her unknowing subject.

"Well he's got one of those baby faces so his cheeks should look like a babies. Also he's got that pouty expression, the one he always gets when he stares at the computer screen, which makes his cheeks look puffier." Carly explained

"I think we've just set the record for using the word 'puffy'." Kate pointed out as she put her sketch pad down ready to give up her portrait of their newest team member.

"That's the only word I could think of that perfectly describes McGee's cheeks." Carly defended. The man in question peered up at them, almost as if he knew they were talking about him before his attention was drawn back to the computer screen.

"Don't you have any homework?" Kate asked.

"I already finished it." Carly replied.

"Already?"

"Yes."

"Nerd."

"And proud of it."

Kate laughed at the girls statement. She stared at the girl for a moment before asking the girl a question she had wanted to since the two had first met over a year ago. "Who do you think you're more like, your mom or your dad?"

It was a simple question, really. One that most kids could answer easily. But it made Carly's heart sting. "I couldn't tell you. I don't remember my mom and nobody but her ever knew who my father is." She replied.

"You've never wanted to find out?" Kate asked.

"I guess I never really thought about it. There is a bunch of my mom's old diaries in the attic but I was always too nervous to read them. I'm sure the answer is in there somewhere." Carly explained.

"Well if you ever want to look, I'll be more than happy to look with you, if you don't want to do it alone." Kate offered. Her and Carly had formed a close bond over the year and a half or so Kate had come to work for her uncle and Carly was more comfortable talking to her than anybody else. She might just take her up on the offer.

And she did, almost two weeks later. Ever since that conversation it was gnawing at her to find out. She didn't expect much from finding out. She didn't even think that she would per sue looking for her father or want to meet him, but she just wanted to know. That's why she now found herself outside of Kate's apartment with a stack of her mother's old diaries.

Kate answered the door and looked at the teenage girl with the books in her hand. She smiled. "I knew you wouldn't be able to ignore it much longer." Kate said with a smirk.

"Yeah well, I just figured there was no harm in finding out." Carly said trying to play it down.

"Does Gibbs' know about this?" Kate asked warily. The last thing she needed was to be getting in trouble with the boss.

"He knows I'm here but he doesn't know about the whole 'who's my daddy?' thing." Carly assured her. She really wasn't sure what she would tell him but figured that she'd just wing it when he found out, cause he would find out.

"Okay, let's get started." Kate said as she lead Carly into her apartment.

The two sat down on the living room floor and started to go through the diaries. Carly found out about a lot of things that she never knew about her mother. She had never been very comfortable talking or asking about her mother, especially to her uncle considering the circumstances in which she died.

"Who's Shannon?" Kate asked, after seeing the name appear a couple of times in the diary she had been reading.

Carly paused. She knew she couldn't lie but she wasn't going to tell the whole truth either. "From what I've heard, she was my mom's best friend since they were kids. They died together in a car accident." She told Kate.

"That's awful." Kate said and then went back to what she was reading. After another hour of more looking, Kate finally found what they were looking but it was the last thing she had expected. "I found something but you might want to prepare yourself for this."

"Okay, I'm ready. Lay it on me." Carly said, taking a deep breath. This was it.

Kate read:

_I found out today that I was pregnant. I'm so scared. I can't tell the father because I know that it will not be in the babies best interest. It was only a fling in the first place anyway. It was never going to last. I guess I just got caught up in the life he lived. But I know how he treats his son, Tony. It's one of the reasons I called it quits. Ever since his mother died, Anthony had shipped the kid to boarding schools and completely cut him off. He said something about Tony not being the son he wanted. I don't know how anybody could just turn their back on their children. I don't want that for my child. Hopefully LJ will respect that. I know that he just wants what's best for me but this is my decision._

Kate looked up to see Carly's reaction. "In an earlier entry it says that the Anthony that she was dating last name was DiNozzo." Kate told her.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that." Carly said, shocked.

"Small world, I guess."Kate said, not knowing what else to say.

"I guess it is."

_**Present….**_

"The next day, I showed Tony the entry and we even had Abby run some tests. He's my half brother." Carly finished. She was shocked at the way that she had just opened up to Rachel. It usually took her a while to trust somebody enough to open up to them. But she just sensed that it was okay to talk to Rachel. Just like she trusted Kate.

"What did your uncle say?" Rachel said curious on how the man took the news.

"He was as indifferent as always." Carly sighed. Sometimes the man's apparent lack of emotions made her angry.

"Okay, well our time is up for today. I'll see you Thursday." Rachel said getting up and walking towards the door .

"Thanks. See you later." Carly said as she exited the office.

Rachel stared after the girl. What they had discussed today was nowhere near as troubling as they would get. It was however, a step in the right direction. Hopefully things won't take any turns in the wrong direction.

**TBC…..**


	2. Three ExWives and a Director

**Author's Note****- Here's the next chapter! I didn't get many reviews but I know that there are some of you reading it, so I'll keep writing. I do hope that some more of you start to review. Here it is.**

**Disclaimer****- I don't own anything.**

After their first meeting, Carly was a little less apprehensive about going to see Rachel. But only a little. This therapy thing still wasn't her thing. She was more one to give it then receive it. She didn't have a degree in forensic psychology for nothing. She was also worried about how easy it was to talk to Rachel. The last person that she let herself be that open to ended up dead.

Rachel could sense that there was still some hesitance but it was to be expected. That is why she decided to still hold off on some of the deeper stuff. Today they were going to talk about relationships. While for most people that she saw, this was a big problem, it was only a minor problem for Carly.

"So let's talk about relationships." Rachel began.

"Oh, my favorite subject." Carly said sarcastically. "I don't have much time for relationships and I'm not very good at them."

"Is that so?" Rachel asked.

"Well it's not like I had any great role models growing up when it came to relationships. Gibbs has been divorced three times, Tony and Abby are both commit-a-phoebes, every woman Tim dates is crazy, and I've only met one of Ziva's boyfriends and Tony killed him. So you see my dilemma." Carly explained.

"Didn't Tim and Abby date at one point?" Rachel questioned. She knew that was a long time ago, Kate had mentioned their odd relationship in one of their phone calls, but it seemed as though there were still some unresolved feelings there.

"Again Abby's a commit-a-phoebe and some would argue that she's a little bit crazy. They are quite a match though." Carly told her.

"Do you remember all three of Gibbs' wives?" she asked.

"Of course. Didn't like them very much either." Carly said with a snicker.

"None of them?" she questioned even more.

"They were all self pretentious woman. I have never really liked anybody he has ever married or dated. They all seemed to want to get rid of me. They didn't see why he wanted me around." She confided in her.

"What about Jenny Sheppard?" Rachel asked.

"Not many people know about that relationship but I shouldn't be surprised that you do. You seem to know a lot about everybody. But to answer your question, I didn't hate her." Carly earnestly told her. She didn't hate Jenny but she was never going to be best friends with her either.

"It was jealousy." Rachel surmised. When Carly looked up at her with wide, questioning eyes, she explained herself. "She was Gibbs partner. They did eighteen months of undercover work with her. Where were you when he was in Europe with Jenny?"

"I stayed with my grandfather in Stillwater, but why would that make me jealous of Jenny?" Carly asked confusingly. Why would she be jealous of Jenny?

"You were used to having his attention, even when he was married. Then all of a sudden she comes and you don't see him again for a year and a half. It wasn't something you were used to." Rachel explained.

Carly thought about all she had said. She had never thought about it that way but now that she had mentioned it, she was jealous of Jenny. For her entire life, it had been her and Gibbs and that was how she wanted it to stay. Then Jenny had came around and it was gone. But just like all of Gibbs' previous relationships, it had ended and he came back to the States, to her, and things had returned to normal again. "Okay so maybe I was a little jealous, but I don't see how this has anything to do with why I'm here now."

"Gibbs wasn't the only person that he took away from you though, was it?" Rachel asked, ignoring Carly's previous statement. There was a point here, and she wanted to get to it before their time ran out.

"What do you mean?" she was starting to get annoyed. So what if she was a little jealous of Jenny? It didn't matter anymore. Jenny was dead.

"The undercover assignment that she gave Tony. The one that required him to get 'close' to a woman named Jeanne Benoit." Rachel leaded. Rachel had talked or rather talked around the topic with Tony in one of the few times they had spoken and after her revelations about Jenny and Gibbs, she knew that there were some repeat affects with Tony.

"I was living with him at the time so Jenny told me that I wasn't to know about the case but when Jeanne was around my name was Carly DiNardo, sister of Tony DiNardo. He fell in love with her but I could tell that it was killing him inside to lie to her." Carly told her. She hated that time in her life.

_**December 2006…..**_

"Jeanne, I would like you to meet my younger sister, Carly." Tony said, as the young girl entered the room. She didn't want to lie like this but the director told her to do it for her. What Carly didn't realize was why she should do it for her. But she did realize that she had to do it for Tony. This would be great for his career if he could complete his mission successfully.

"It's nice to meet you, Carly." Jeanne said shaking the teenagers hand.

"Likewise, Tony's told me a lot about you." Carly said. It wasn't a lie, Tony always bragged about his 'conquests'.

"I wish I could say the same." Jeanne told her. Tony had only told her about his sister the night before at dinner. He seems kind of nervous about it.

"Well I don't take it personally. I usually drive any woman he brings here away. I think they think I'm his daughter." Carly explained, thinking off the top of her head.

"There does seem to be quite an age difference between you two." Jeanne pointed out.

"Yeah, he was eighteen when I was born. When our father died, I came to live here with him. I don't have any other family so I'm really great full for him. That's why I have to tell you, you better not hurt him." Carly said really trying to sell the story.

"I don't plan on doing so." Jeanne promised, looking meaningfully into Tony's eyes.

"Good. Now I better get going. I got a project for school due Wednesday so I'm going to go over to Grace's to work on it." Carly told Tony. She wanted to spend as little time as possible there.

"Okay, I'll walk you out." Tony said rushing her into the front room. When they got out of ear shot he spoke again. "You sure put a lot of detail into that." He commented.

"Rule 7." Carly said simply.

"Don't" Tony hissed.

"What?" Carly said innocently.

"You're trying to make me feel guilty." Tony accused.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I'm just saying that he won't like that we were lying to him. I might not be on the best of terms with him right now but I still can't pull off lying to him." Carly warned him.

"He'll never know that you were. He doesn't have any reason to think that." He assured her.

"Okay well I'm just saying. I'm going to go now anyways. I'll see you later unless you want me to disappear, then I'll just at Abby's tonight." She told him.

"Don't worry about it. Come back later. We'll start our Christmas movie marathon." Tony told her. He didn't want her to feel that she wasn't welcome anymore now that he was dating Jeanne.

"I'll hold you to that." Carly replied, as she exited the apartment.

_**Present….**_

"It seems as though you didn't enjoy lying in this situation." Rachel pointed out.

"I don't like lying at all but this time was worse. Jenny used her position as director to serve her own agenda. She used the agents, she used me, and Tony almost died because of it." Carly said bitterly. As they continued their conversation, Carly found herself growing angrier. Maybe she did hate Jenny.

"We have to stop here but I want to pick up right from Tony's supposed death next week." Rachel said, noticing the time. As much as she wanted to continue the conversation, she had more patients to see so it had to wait.

"Okay. I'll see you next week." Carly said as she walked out. She thought about their next conversation and realized that they were now starting to get into the deep things. She didn't know if she liked that.

**TBC…..**


	3. Tony Gets Blown UpAlmost

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything. **

The next Tuesday, Rachel and Carly were back in the office about to begin there next session. To say Carly was nervous didn't even begin to describe how she was feeling right then. When Tony had been 'blown up', she hadn't been able to talk to anybody. Now, six years later, she found it still hard to talk about. Tony walked away alive, but the hours that she thought her brother was dead hurt like hell.

"Are you ready to get started?" Rachel asked the girl. She knew this was going to be tough and she wanted Carly to be completely ready.

"Yes. After we talked last week I realized that some things are better to get out in the open. You were right about Jenny and a part of me still hated her because of this mission. I think that it will help to tell you all that happened." Carly told her. She had come to the decision over the weekend that she wasn't going to be as hesitant. She wanted to trust Rachel with these things. Tony had told her, in his own way, that it was okay to open up to her. So she was going to do it.

"I'm glad. Now let's start with how you found out about Tony." Rachel told her. She felt a sense of accomplishment that Carly wanted to trust her.

"I was entering the bullpen that day, after school and I knew something was wrong….." Carly began.

_**May 2007….**_

Carly walked off the elevator into the bullpen and immediately felt the eyes on her. Sure kids weren't exactly allowed but she had been here more than seventy-five percent of everybody else so she didn't care. The only people in MCRT's section of the office were Tim and Ziva and they were strangely quiet. "Hey people." She said addressing the two.

They both looked up at the girl and felt the pain they felt increase. They had momentarily forgotten about her. Neither of them knew how to tell her. Apparently they didn't have to vocalize anything. "What's wrong?" she said walking towards McGee's desk. "And before you try to play dumb, I know that look Tim and it's not a look I like."

Tim could hear the fear in her voice but he just didn't want to say it, he wasn't able to say it. "Where's Tony and Gibbs?" she asked when he didn't answer her.

"Gibbs is with Abby." Tim whispered, unable to make his voice go any louder.

"Tony?" Carly asked worriedly but already knew the answer.

Tim stood up in front of her and said "I'm so sorry, Carly." As soon as the words the girl buried herself in the older man's embrace. Ziva just watched sadly as Tim did his best to comfort Carly while trying to maintain his own emotions.

"No, no, no."Carly kept repeating as she cried into McGee's chest. It couldn't be true. Tony couldn't be gone, he just couldn't. The she thought of something. She looked up at Tim, "Is he downstairs?"

"Yes, but you shouldn't go down there." Tim said , as he stepped back in front of her so she wouldn't get to the elevators.

"I need to see him, Tim." Carly pleaded. "Please."

"It was an explosion. His body is unrecognizable." Tim said, trying to shake the haunting images of his best friends charred body from his mind.

"Then there's a chance it's not him." Carly said hopefully as she looked for some kind of confirmation.

Tim wanted more than anything for it not to be Tony but he also didn't want to get his hopes up. Before he was able to say anything Ziva decided to interfere, "It is not wise to have false hope. It was his car and his id and badge were recovered from the wreck."

"No, I'm not believing it's him until Ducky or Abby tell me otherwise." Even as she said this, she could still feel the ache of loss. She heard the elevator ding and she turned around to see her uncle coming out of the elevator. He looked ten years older than he did that morning when she had left for school. Their eyes met and he noticed how puffy her eyes. He was ashamed to feel glad that he didn't have the job of telling Carly about Tony. She walked up to him and broke down again. Gibbs recovered quickly and grabbed her before her sobs brought her to the ground. She couldn't control her cries and began to hyperventilate. All she could remember was Gibbs trying to calm her down before blacking out.

"Hey Kiddo, I'd like my desk back so could you get up?" Carly was sure she heard Tony's voice but ignored it as she slowly came to. "Open your eyes. Almost getting blown up took a lot out of me, I wanna rest." The voice whined. This time it caused her to jump up.

"Almost?" Carly responded, shocked as she looked at the figure standing above her.

"Yes, almost. You know me, always in danger but I always seem to out run it by a second."Tony smirked as the relief flooded the teenagers features.

"I'm so happy you're not dead. I told them it wasn't you but Ziva wouldn't listen." Carly said as she gave Tony a hug that required all the strength she could muster.

"Wow Ziva, she's the second one to me that you thought I was dead." Tony said playfully.

"Yes, well I am sorry. I am just glad that you really are okay." Ziva said genuinely. She had been really upset at Tony's possible death but had not allowed herself to express it.

"Thanks Zee." Said Tony.

_**Present…..**_

"You passed out?" Rachel asked after listening to her story.

"Yeah, Ducky said that I wasn't able to catch my breath so I passed out. He wanted me to get checked out by the hospital but I convinced him I was fine." Carly explained.

"Did you ever talk to Tony about it, after the case was wrapped up?" Rachel asked.

"Not really. The next time we were alone, I told him I was really glad he was okay again but he just joked that I was too worried and that I was turning into McGee." Carly explained.

"Well it seems that he uses jokes to deal with troubling situations." Rachel pointed out. It was obvious to her had several defense mechanisms in place and she just wished that he would let her help with that. But alas, he was too stubborn. "What about Jeanne? His feelings didn't just go away after the case."

"No, it took him a while to get over her but I think it was when she came back and accused him of murdering her father that he really let it go. If she actually loved him, she would have known that he was not capable of something like that, no matter what had happened in the past." She was happy when he finally got over her. Even though he did really love her, it was probably for his best that he let her go.

"Did Gibbs ever find out about your involvement?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, Tony ended up telling him everything that happened while he was undercover. Gibbs got furious and had it out with the director about putting me in the position she did. Then he yelled at me for letting her use me. After that though, the subject was never brought up again." Carly told her.

"Okay, well time's up for today. We'll continue on Thursday." Rachel said noticing the time.

"Thanks, Doc. See you later." Carly said as she exited the office.

After she left, Rachel smiled. This didn't seem to be as hard as she thought it would. She just hoped it stayed that way.

**TBC…..**


	4. Kate's Gone, Ziva's Here, Abby's a Pain

**Author's Note- Unfortunately, this story hasn't been exactly popular. For those of you that are reading this, I thank you and assure you that I will keep updating. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own anything or anyone besides Carly….**

It was tough to talk about some things, no matter who you are. Even if you're a psychiatrist who encourages people to speak about hard things, had a difficult time with it. After the death of her sister, Rachel tried to understand better, what it was like for Kate the last few years of her life. When she first started at NCIS, Kate had ranted and raved at how unfair her boss was and how she didn't think that he appreciated her. But, as time went on, it became obvious to Rachel that the team had become a second family to her. Even though Kate had said she was annoyed by Tony DiNozzo's antics and the fact that Tim McGee seemed to be following in his footsteps, Rachel could tell that she wouldn't have it any other way.

Kate had also told her about the little girl that she had grown attached to remarkably fast. She loved the fact that the girl looked up to her so much. Rachel had always wondered how her sister's death had affected the young girl. Now she was going to find out.

"So what's on the agenda today, Doc?" Carly said at the beginning of their next session. For some strange reason, she was actually looking forward to this. Go figure.

"Kate." Rachel stated.

"What about her?" Carly said leadingly. She was pretty sure she knew were this was going and she wasn't sure she liked it.

"I know you two were close." Rachel said hoping that Carly would begin talking without too much pressure.

"We were." Carly said stubbornly.

Rachel sighed, it seemed that Carly was going to be difficult about this. "You were upset when she died?"

"She didn't die, she was murdered. Dying implies that nothing could have been done to prevent it." Carly said bitterly, finally letting Rachel see what she truly felt about this subject.

_May 2005…_

Tony and Tim sat in complete silence in the bullpen after they had gotten back later that afternoon. Gibbs was down in the lab trying to calm Abby down and Ducky was in Autopsy doing…something neither of them wanted to think about. They did not envy the man at all. The elevator dinged and Carly entered the area with a paper clutched in her hand, a wide smile on her face.

The two men glanced at each other, both internally wincing. That smile wouldn't last much longer. The silent conversation between the men went on for minutes and they didn't even hear Carly babbling on and on about something.

Tim's eyes said it all: '_You're Senior Field Agent, you're her brother, you tell her.'_

Tony's angry ones screamed: '_You're a wimp!'_ but he got up and told her anyways.

The next few minutes were a blur for Carly. Once Tony had said what he needed to say, as gently as he possibly could given the circumstances, Carly dropped the paper she was holding and ran the opposite way. Only one thing was going through her head: '_Kate's Dead.'_

Tony bent down and grabbed the paper. It was a school report. The title said '_The Person I Look Up To The Most :NCIS Special Agent Caitlyn Todd.' _With a grade of A+.

_Present…_

"You feel as though it could have been prevented? From what I've read in the official case report, Ari Haswari was in a snipers nest and nobody knew he was there." Rachel didn't want for it to sound like she was okay with the fact that nothing could be done to save Kate but she needed to get the emotions out of her.

"I may not have been an agent and I may not have been able to know about the cases, but I do know that both Kate and Gibbs had opportunities to kill the bastard, and they didn't." Carly told her.

"His kind eyes." Rachel said. Kate had told her about this in one of their many conversations. She never understood why Kate cared so much about not being able to kill the man when they first met, but now she did.

"They were very fooling, but luckily I knew what exactly the man behind those eyes was capable of doing." Carly told her.

"You met him?" Rachel asked. This was the first time she was hearing of Carly coming in contact with the terrorist.

"The night he was killed. I was in the kitchen when he came into the house. I didn't realize he came in before he spoke from behind me." Carly confided

_May 2005…._

"You should have known better to leave the door unlocked, Caroline. With all of the psychopaths in the world." Ari said to the shocked girl in front of him.

"You mean like you." Carly said snidely. She knew it wasn't the best idea, but channeling DiNozzo was the first thing that came to mind.

"Now, now. My mental state is very much intact." Ari admonished. Carly snorted. "I do not think it's wise to act like this. Unless you would want to end up like our dear Caitlyn."

"Gibbs won't let you get away with this." Carly glared back at him.

"He won't be around long enough to save you." Ari laughed as he grabbed the girl and pushed her into the nearest closet. Before shutting the door and locking it he addressed her one more time. "Before I kill him, I'll make sure he knows where you are and that they'll be no way for him to save you."

Carly didn't know how long she had been in there, crying, when she heard the front door open. She prayed to God that it was Tony and started pounding on the door. When the door opened she was surprised to see the now familiar face, she wasn't sure it was a good surprise. Carly backed into the closet, away from Ziva.

Sensing the girls fear, Ziva tried to reassure her. "It is okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Why should I believe you?" Carly said stubbornly.

"You have no reason to believe me but you should." Ziva said before turning around and making her way to the doorway to the basement. Carly watched as she took aim with the gun that Carly hadn't even noticed before. She wanted to stop her, because she thought she was going to shoot Gibbs but before she could the gun went off.

Carly let out a sigh a relief when Gibbs appeared at the top of the stairs. She ran into his arm and let the tears run free. "Shh, everything is going to be okay. He's dead. He'll never hurt us again." Gibbs whispered into her ear, trying to comfort her.

_Present….._

"That must have been tough to deal with." Rachel said as she watched the tears escaped Carly as she relived the memory.

"Yeah, it was. I could never imagine what that did Ziva but I couldn't help myself from feeling so happy that she did it." Carly told her, whipping furiously at the tears.

"I know that the team ,understandably, gave Ziva a hard time when she first arrived, but what about you?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I'll admit, I wasn't so thrilled that Kate's position was given away so soon but it was going to happen. I'm glad that it was Ziva who was put on the team." Carly told her. "She saved Gibbs and my lives."

"How did everybody else react to you excepting her?" Rachel asked.

"Tim pretty much warmed up to her as fast as I did, Tony not that long after that but Abby was a completely different story….." Carly told her

_July 2005…._

Carly sat in Abby's lab as she watched Ziva walk dejectedly towards the elevator. She turned to Abby, " What is wrong with you?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Abby said, staring at the computer screen.

"She was just trying to be nice."Carly defended.

"What I don't I understand is why your being so nice to her." Abby said snidely, still not even looking at Carly.

"Why shouldn't I?" Carly questioned. She knew Abby was still upset about Kate, but that didn't give her a right to be so rude .

"You know, for someone who apparently loved Kate so much, you seemed to drop her awfully fast when Ziva showed up." Abby sneered, finally turning around.

"Are you serious?" Carly asked, not believing that Abby would say that.

"It's like Kate never existed to you." Abby answered bitterly. "You don't even care."

"That's a lie and you know it." Carly said. " I did love Kate and I do miss her. It's not Ziva's fault that everything happened the way it did. Believe whatever you want, but that's the truth." Carly stormed out of the lab and into the elevator. When the door opened, she saw Gibbs standing in there with a Caf-Pow! in his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked, forgetting about going into the lab and staying in the elevator. He looked at the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"Nothing. I'm going home." Carly walked out of the elevator when it reached the lobby of the building.

_Present…._

"Why didn't you tell Gibbs what Abby said to you?" Rachel asked.

"Because Abby's his favorite." Carly stated, blandly. "I love Abby but sometimes she can really make me angry."

That was something that struck Rachel as odd. She knew that there was a very strong bond between the lead agent and forensic scientist but it almost seemed as though it made Carly bitter. Did the girl believe that her uncle would pick the woman over herself if need be. That was definitely something they needed to address.

"Okay times up for today, I'll see you next week." Rachel said.

"Okay, thanks Doc." Carly left the office lost in memories.

**TBC….**


	5. Tony and Tim's Problems 1

**Author's Note- Sorry for lack of updates for those of you that are actually reading this story. This chapter is going to be split up into two parts. **

**Disclaimer- I don't own NCIS or any of its original characters**

Carly wondered what her and Rachel's next discussion was going to be about. Even though they had covered a lot of ground, there was still a lot to go. She did have an idea where it would end up though. She had noticed the curiosity in Rachel's eyes when she had mentioned Abby being Gibbs' favorite last week.

Everybody who had worked on or with Gibbs' team could tell that Abby was the former Marine's favorite. Sometimes though, Carly felt as though he cared more about Abby then he did her. She didn't want to sound needy or jealous, but shouldn't he care more for his own flesh and blood?

Carly and her uncle had had a lot of ups and downs in their relationship. Every time he got re-married or went off on a mission with Jenny, they seemed to drift more and more apart. Even though Carly didn't remember them, she felt as though he was betraying their family by marrying again. She wanted him to be happy but after the second red headed 'Shannon replica' she got more wary.

Even after all of this, the one thing that really put her over the edge was Gibbs' sudden 'retirement' after he had lost his memory in an explosion. Carly knew Rachel knew about this, and decided that that was what they were going to talk about. She was right.

"What happened when Gibbs lost his memory?" Rachel asked the next time they met.

"He was blown-up. He was in a coma for about a week, in which time I never left the hospital. When he woke up, the last thing he remembered was being blown up in '91. He knew of me but to him I should have still been four months old. Mike Franks came, helped him regain some of his memory. Gibbs remembered legally adopting me when I was released from the hospital but he still didn't remember the rest of the team. That is until Ziva made him remember by reminding him of Kate and Ari. That night, he gave Tony his gun and his badge and he quite." Carly explained in the shortest way she could. "So that's the story. What do we talk about next?"

"Oh no." Rachel said. "We haven't even begun to get into this."

"But there's not much to say. Our relationship is fine now." Okay it wasn't fine but it was better than it had been in the last couple of years. So it wasn't a complete lie.

Rachel figured that she'd leave the Gibbs part of the tale out of it for now but stick with their current time period. "Okay, I won't push. What was it like when Tony was the team leader?"

"He's a good leader. They did very good, even without Gibbs. They respected their leader. Well they did eventually but there were a bunch of unresolved feelings that held them back in the beginning." Carly told her.

"Tony and Ziva?" Rachel asked knowing that there was definitely something between the two agents, even though her time spent with them together was short.

Carly laughed at her assumption. It wasn't completely illogical. "No, actually it was Tony and Tim." She told her.

"Well they do seem to have a rather odd relationship. One of the first things that Tony said to me was a joke about McGee having no sex life. That's not exactly common in the work place. Even if it was Probie hazing." Rachel comments.

"They've always had that kind of relationship. It's the whole big brother, little brother complex. But this time it was different. They were being downright nasty to each other. I think it was the first time I realized that I wanted to go into tome sort of psychology when I was older." Carly says as she begins to recount the events of the day.

_**June 2006….**_

"McGee!" Tony yells from across the bullpen to where the younger man sits at his former desk. "I need your help with something."

"I'm busy." Tim says back, ignoring Tony at all costs. They had no case and he had finished his paperwork. Now he was just playing some stupid video game that Tony left on his computer.

"Something's wrong with my computer, I need you to fix it." Tony said deciding that he wasn't going to let McGee off of the hook.

"Then call one of the computer techs to help you." Tim said back without taking his eyes off of the screen.

"Why would I do that when you're right here? You're the one that's bragging about your _amazing_ degree from MIT, why don't you get over here and actually put it to good use? " Tony said in a grouchy tone. He was done with McGee's blatant disrespect. Tim didn't even bother acknowledge that statement, so Tony dug a little deeper. "Maybe Gibbs should have just left you as a stupid computer tech instead of putting you on the team. You were more useful back then."

That pissed Tim off. He stood up from his desk and shot daggers at Tony. "Why don't you just hit the thing with a baseball bat, it seemed to always work for Gibbs. Oh, that's right. You're not Gibbs." He said the last sentence with emphases.

Before Tony got a chance to retaliate, Carly, who had witnessed the entire conversation, decided to intervene. "ENOUGH!" she yelled. Before addressing them further, she looked at Ziva who was also just staring at the two men.

Ziva knew what the look meant and decided to vow out. "Michelle." She said addressing the team's newest member. "Why don't we go for some coffee?" she started for the elevator, knowing Lee would follow right behind her. She did.

Once they were gone, Carly pulled two chairs into the middle of the bull pen. "Sit." She ordered the two men. They both complied, knowing that when provoked enough, the young girls temper could be as bad as her uncles. "Now, why don't you tell me what the hell is going on with the two of you?" she asked.

The two of them both started to explain at the same time, acting like five year olds. "Stop!" Carly yelled again. They both stopped speaking and looked at her. "Good. Now Tim, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm sick and tired of him thinking that I'm no good at this job. He doesn't see me as a good agent. You heard what he said. He doesn't even think that Gibbs should have promoted me in the first place." Tim said angrily.

"I don't really think that." Tony admitted. "I just got really pissed that you don't think I'm any good at being the team leader. You said it just now, and you've said it before, I'm not Gibbs." He said quietly.

"You're not Gibbs." Tim said but then kept going. "You're Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and you're a great leader, without trying to be Gibbs." Tim told him.

"You really think that?" Tony asked honestly.

"Of course I do." Tim said back. "I just want to know one thing."

"What?" Tony asked

"Was what Gibbs said before he left right? Do you really not think that I'm a good agent?" Tim said. Now it was his turn to be quiet when he spoke.

"No it wasn't." Tony said. It always made him pissed that Gibbs thought that.

Carly was happy to see the progress between the men, but there was one thing she wanted to make clear. "Gibbs isn't here. That was his choice. Neither of you need him to be good agents. Tim, you're a good Senior Field Agent and Tony, you're a good leader. Just remember that." She said.

Tony and Tim watched as she walked away. They could tell that Gibbs leaving was hurting her more than anyone, no matter what Abby said. The only problem she wouldn't let it show that it was killing her. The just hoped she'd get better.

**TBC…..**


	6. Carly's Hero

**Author's Notes- I know I said the last chapter was part 1 of 2 but the second part is not this chapter. It will come later in the story because it's important that it is later…if that makes any sense to you. It sounded better in my head. O Well…**

**Disclaimer- I don't own NCIS or any of its characters.**

Rachel looked at Carly curiously after she finished the story. She knew that Carly and Tony had a very strong brother/sister relationship but it also seems as though she had that kind of relationship with McGee too. "There's something between you and McGee, isn't there." Rachel said.

"We go back a while if that's what you mean." Carly said cryptically.

Rachel knew there was more; there was always more when it came to Carly. She may be a talkative person but when she wanted to, she could turn on the 'short and to the point' style whenever she felt like it. "What do you mean by a while?"

Carly sighed. "1991." She said quietly.

"That was the year you were born. How old was Tim in '91?" Rachel asked beginning to see where this was going.

"Nine, almost ten." Carly admitted. She knew that Rachel was smart enough to figure it out.

"Tell me what happened the day you're mom died." Rachel said knowing that this would lead to more.

"My mom and Shannon witnessed a murder so NIS was putting them, me and Kelly into a safe house. On the way there, a man by the name of Pedro Hernandez shot and killed the agent that was driving the car we were in. The car swerved out of control and crashed. My mom, Shannon and Kelly were killed on impact. I got lucky and was saved by the car seat I was in. A young boy, who couldn't have been much older than Kelly pulled me out of the car, placed me on the ground and proceeded to try to pull Kelly out even though there was nothing he could have done to save her. Mike was the one that told me the details. Apparently the boy who pulled me out knew my entire name and date of birth. He also knew who Kelly, Shannon and my mom were. He ran off before anybody could get his name and nobody saw him again." Carly said, telling Rachel the full story.

"Tim?" Rachel asked.

"Like I said nobody knew. Nobody even had any idea who it could be." Carly said deflecting the question. "That is until Maddie Tyler showed up."

"I read about that case. Friend of Kelly's unknowingly gets involved in the stealing of Iraqi money. Gibbs goes after her and they both end up close to death but Tony swopped in and saved them both at the last second." Rachel surmised.

"Yeah that's the one. Apparently Maddie told Gibbs about a boy that was a year older than them that they played with. I found out about it when I was going down to the basement but stopped when I heard voice already down there…"

_November 2007…._

Gibbs sat in his basement as he sanded his latest boat. It was still in its early stages but he decided to sand as it was extremely soothing after the crazy day he had. After an hour so of doing the same thing, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He figured Tony would show up tonight. "I'm fine, DiNozzo."

The steps stopped halfway down. "I'm…ah…glad boss. I'll just be going then." McGee stammered and started back up the steps.

Gibbs sighed. He knew this would happen eventually. He just didn't think the young man would be able to find the courage so soon. "Come back here, Tim."

McGee turned around and came back down and sat on the bottom step. "This isn't good, you called me Tim." He said trying to play off his nervousness.

Gibbs didn't say anything. He just waited for Tim to speak. They sat in silence for what seemed for hours but were actually only minutes when Gibbs couldn't take it anymore and decided to talk. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how to." Tim offered as a reason. Gibbs looked at him skeptically. "Or maybe because I just didn't want you to hate me." He said, getting up off of the stairs and running his hands through his hair.

Now Gibbs was confused. "What? Why would that make me hate you?" the older agent asked, now looking at Tim.

"Because, I couldn't…" he said, frustrated. It was tough for him to admit. "I couldn't save her. That would make you hate me."

Gibbs felt a pang of hurt in his chest when he saw the defeat in the young man's eyes. "You couldn't have saved her. But you were able to get Carly out of there. She was the only one that stood a real chance. I couldn't hate you." Gibbs told him. He wasn't usually this open with any of his team but after what he found out that day, it needed to be done.

When he was at Maddie's, looking through her picture album, he came across an interesting photo. It was Maddie and Kelly each kissing a cheek of a boy around the same age. The boy was bright red with embarrassment. When Gibbs asked who the little boy was and Maddie had told him it was a young Tim McGee, he was shocked to say the least. Maddie paralleled those feeling when Gibbs told her that the agent the escorted her into NCIS earlier that day was the same little boy.

"You really should have told me." Gibbs said. He didn't like it when his people kept things from him in the first place but this took things to a different level because of the circumstance.

"Well I'm not one to discuss my personal life. Something you are more than guilty of." Tim pointed out.

"So what?" Gibbs said incredulously. "You just gonna mimic everything I do." Gibbs looked at Tim who was looking down at the ground. That's exactly what Tim had tried to do. "I don't understand why you and DiNozzo want to be just like me. Trust me; it's not all it's cracked up to be."

Instead of answering directly, Tim told his boss something he had never planned on telling him. "I remember when I was younger, the three of us were at Maddie's house and we were talking about how our dads were all about to be deployed. They were so upset that they weren't going to see their dads all the time and I couldn't even bring myself to care that my dad was going to be gone." Gibbs didn't respond but he also didn't ask Tim to stop either. In truth he wanted to hear what the kid had to say next. "My dad and I never had a good relationship and as cold hearted as it may sound, I was glad to see him leave. I didn't want to be the type of man my dad was." Tim's voice had gotten quiet as he went on. "I wanted to be the type of man that loved his kid no matter what they wanted to do with their life, the kind of person that cared for them and actually told them that they loved them. I wanted to be just like the man that Kelly always talked about and thought of as her hero."

That's not what Gibbs had thought he was going to say at all. He knew that his agents looked up to him but he hadn't realized just how much McGee did. Now he understood McGee's constant need of his approval. Before Gibbs figured out what to say, Tim continued again. "When I first started at NCIS, I heard the stories that some of the agents told of the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I couldn't believe it. I had no idea you started working at NCIS. They day we met; I was worried that you would recognize me but I realized it was highly unlikely sense we only met twice and I had changed a lot since then. Still, you scared the shit out of me. But you knew that." Tim laughed quietly.

"I just chalked it up to you being so green." Gibbs spoke for the first time in a while.

"Well that had a little input, I'm sure." Tim half joked.

Gibbs looked at the man in front of him. He hadn't stopped and observed him in a while. Now that he did he realized just how much he has grown as an agent as well as a man in the past few years. He was proud to have been a part of that. He was proud that Tim McGee, who was such a good person, so loyal and trusting, looked up to and wanted to be like him.

_Present…._

"I came down stairs after that and let Tim have it for not telling me that he was in fact the little boy that saved my life that day." Carly said, finishing her story.

"It's ironic how Tim and Gibbs ended up working together all those years later." Rachel pointed out.

"Yeah, some people would call that a coincidence, by I was taught that coincidences don't exist." Carly said. "I guess knowing that made me and Tim even closer than we were before. And we were pretty close. Every time I got into a fight with Gibbs or sometimes even Tony, I would run to his apartment and he never turned me away."

Rachel realized that this would be a good thing to leave off and pick up on in their next session. Hopefully this will also bring them back to her reactions to Gibbs leaving. Hopefully….

**TBC…..**


End file.
